Silvis rolls around idea of repainting water tower

Silvis rolls around idea of repainting water tower

The suggestion to turn Silvis’ 17thAvenue water tower into a giant golf ball was denied once this year, but the man behind the idea says it’ll be on the agenda at Tuesday night’s meeting.

And even it if fails tomorrow he’s not going to stop, until this tower is transformed.

“It looks like a golf ball on a tee. Haha. It’s pretty obvious.”

Talk to second ward alderman Matt Carter and he’ll tell you the water tower on 17th Avenue isn’t just a water tower. To him it’s the biggest billboard in town, and if he gets his way it’ll become something memorable while paying homage to Silvis’ annual professional golf tournament.

“The tee part of it would be John Deere green or the John Deere colors that would be with the white ball. Obviously with no John Deere logos, no reference to the John Deere Classic at all,” says Carter.

It’s going to cost more than $260,000 to paint the water tower the same color it is now. Transforming it into a giant tee and golf ball would cost an additional $30,000.

Carter says that’s no problem because Silvis has an excess of tax dollars in its Tax Increment Financing program.

“These are funds that can only be used for certain projects and, coincidentally, repainting water towers lines up perfectly with their intended use,” he says.

This water must be painted one way or another. There are several large areas of rust beginning to develop.

Carter says if his proposal fails a vote this week, he’ll re-introduce it for a third time in the public works committee, which he chairs, in an effort to make this dream a reality.